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I've lived in many countries, and many states in the US, and I haven't found a place I like better than San Diego, California.

It's a little pricier (not London pricey), but it has all the big city stuff, and a lot of small town stuff. I can surf in the morning, and go snowboarding by the afternoon. Southern California (except for Hollywood) is a little more on the conservative side, especially San Diego and Orange County, we have a high percentage of military and ex-military who decided to stay, including myself. Republican local government which is probably very conservative from someone in the UK, but not too bad.

The demographics is excellent, a lot of different cultures, and of course the amazing year round weather. If you like riding motorcycles, we do get the split lanes legally here, another plus.

I do enjoy firearms and shooting at a range, which I thought would be a big problem for me in California, but its not. Other than 10 round magazines, and a 10 day wait, it's not really restrictive.

The OP should try to get some advice from Expats who live in California, try some message boards. You want to ask people who actually did what you are considering.

My job is in OC, but if I was offered something in SD, I would take it in a heartbeat........

I went to Muncie in the middle of August for work. The day I got there had to be the absolute hottest day I ever had to live through when suddenly out of nowhere rain clouds came out (i'm from socal, i don't appreciate rain when i want to be outside). I thought the rain would cool things off, but it only made it 10x worse. Maybe I exagerated, because I have to say, the people were among the friendliest I've met, but it seemed like there wasnt much to do. There were just lots of spread out towns spread out with small polulations with people working go nowhere jobs with no ambition. I'm sure other parts of the state are different, but I just couldn't see myself doing it.

no wonder...even people from Indiana make fun of muncie.

Generally northern Indiana (dubbed "The Region") is to be avoided...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brem46

$4 a gallon isnt even half of what i pay currently at the moment, im paying around £1.47 for a LITRE
on that basis 1 gallon = 4.5 litres which is £6.61GBP per gallon in the UK around $12 USD

i havent just gone on holiday and came back thinking "wow i live in a dump" i have wanted to move some where for a while now and this holiday has just promoted that idea in both mine and my wifes head.

whilst i wouldnt want to set up a corporate business in america, its too much work and would involve me learning completely new markets all over again etc, i would be interested in setting up a nice bar / restaurant or something along them lines, in which i can just own it and employ and enjoy my free time now,.

just fyi - us gallon is 3.8 liters. 1 US gallon is ~.83 imperial gallons. your point still stands though.

PS if you want to make a restaurant - please make the food better than most of london!! I thought almost all of the food I ate there was bland and boring. American's won't be into it. Although, I will say that you guys know how to do breakfast - you do that wonderfully.

BTW - a lot of us realize the cost of living in London is more than probably anywhere in the US but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice to live in a place where the cost of living is a LOT less.

As far as Cali goes - the place i've heard the most positive about is San Diego.

i have a week clear in my diary next month, I will be flying back to visit San Diego once more, but I will also be visiting a few other states... going to do a google search and find some places that we would all enjoy.

i am not keen on the idea of flordia just simply because the hurricanes and the devastation i have seen there over the years.

new york city is great but i wouldnt want to live in an apartment, i enjoy living in a house too much.

without buying a "ranch" i want the space for my children to grow and enjoy the space, something which whilst we do have a moderate yard at the moment i want more space so my kids can grow plants and vegetables (just a fun activity i would like them to do.

i dont mind living outside of a city as quite simply when i was growing up i lived in the country and loved the space and freedom that this offers me, but only being a drive from the nearest city.

a beach would be nice, my daughter loves the beach so again being close enough to a beach for a "day trip" or anything like that would be brilliant.

we know this is a big decision and one which will not be made overnight. we have set up a few meetings with solicitors to get the facts on obtaining residency (green card) in the USA.

once we have all the facts presented to us then we will make a decision based on that.

America is a great country. You won't understand it's beauty until youve lived here and traveled quite a bit.
The back country in the appalachian mountains is something that gives me chills. The rocky mountains are something else. The city's are full of life and the coast from Florida to Maine has so much verity it's unthinkable.
There's no way to combine everything great about America in one location. But please experience it all. Get lost someday in a beautiful place. You seem to be fortunate enough to have the funds to travel. See as much of the country as you can. Everyplace is unique in its own way.

From a residential standpoint I'm not sure I'd choose California.
It's by nothing. The whole entire country is east of the mississippi. Then there's California out there on the whole other side. Don't get me wrong, California is amazing. But it's almost like its own little country.
I think you might like Virginia or pennsylvania. Close enough to the coast depending on where you are and just beautiful. you have the option in these states (or really any state) of living close to everyone and in the middle of the action. Or out so far that people won't even be able to find your house.
On the east coast you have the option to drive just about anywhere. This gives you a lot of opportunity to experience the country. In California you have California to enjoy. But if you want to go anywhere you have to fly.

without buying a "ranch" i want the space for my children to grow and enjoy the space, something which whilst we do have a moderate yard at the moment i want more space so my kids can grow plants and vegetables (just a fun activity i would like them to do.

Sounds like you want either Orange County or San Francisco Bay Area

We grew all kind of vegetables and fruit near SF (Fremont MSJ district to be exact), weather was not as good as OC either.

OP, why would you worry about the job/visa thing? Can you not get a work permit visa and come here and start a bussiness since you said you have 3 successful businesses in England? If you sold the businesses and could show the US gov that you have XXXX amount of liquid equity, I'm sure the work permit thing would go smoothly.

as a new yorker that lived in london for almost half a year, i gotta say that london reminded me a lot of nyc. if you're looking for something different, i wouldnt head there. i personally would move to socal in a heartbeat if i could just find a job out there

Cali as others have said have higher costs of living. Don't expect to work a lot less but the great thing about America is you get what you put into it...for now that is.

__________________

"My philosophy as a businessman has always been to take care of the people who make me successful. It has always been "we" in my business conversations with others. At a certain point in a successful business it behooves one to make sure those doing a good job of supporting you are not struggling to make ends meet."

I've lived in Orange County for more than a decade and now working in San Diego and live in Riverside County. I have to admit, I miss Orange County. These are the best cities to live in Orange County.
Mission Viejo
Newport Beach
Laguna Beach
Irvine
Laguna Niguel

The nicest area in SoCal is between Southern Orange County(cities listed above) and Northern San Diego County. Housing in these areas however are around $600,000 - $800,000+. My guess is that the house prices went down in the past 3 years.

There's a reason housing in SoCal is expensive compared to other states. It's not just the perfect weather. There's tons of things to do and places to go(already mentioned this in my early post). Location, Location, Location.